Hope after the wounds

A Church in need of “renewal” and “reconciliation”, after the wounds of the abuses and the “failures” of believers, called to “witness the true faith” where there are “signs of hope”. Msgr. Diarmuid Martin, archbishop of Dublin and primate of Ireland, underlines that his is a non – “pessimistic”, but rather a “realistic” analysis of the Irish Church. In 2012, Dublin will stage the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) themed “The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with One Another”. A few days ago (June 2-3) a “preparatory” meeting ahead of the Congress took place in Dublin, attended by international Catholic media officers and by 75 delegates from 70 world countries. Simona Mengascini interviewed Msgr. Martin for SIR Europe. Msgr. Martin what does it mean to welcome the international Eucharistic Congress for the Irish Church?“In his Letter to the Catholics of Ireland the Pope spoke of ‘renewal’ and ‘reconciliation’. Our hope is that Christians from around the world will come to Dublin as a sign of solidarity and support for the Church in Ireland and will join together with us in prayer for renewal. Our Country is experiencing a revolution of its Catholic culture. Ireland is no longer a bastion of traditional Catholicism: there are parishes in Dublin where the presence at Sunday Mass is some 5% of the Catholic overall population and, in some cases, even below 2%, while about 18% of the Catholic population in the Archdiocese of Dublin attends Sunday Mass. Furthermore, there is a crisis in vocations and for the second year running there will be no ordination to the priesthood. We need renewal since the secularisation of Irish culture is very advanced and this places us in the same situation experienced by other European Churches”. And as regards reconciliation? “The last Eucharistic Congress in Ireland took place in 1932. It was a very important event since between 1922 and 1924 the Country had experienced a Civil War. That was the first major national meeting where the two parties starting working together again in a common project. It was an event of faith and also of reconciliation. Our Church today needs reconciliation. It has been wounded by the scandals, people have suffered and continue to suffer also for other problems”. Which changes is the Church of Ireland called to address? “We must recover the faith of the Irish people, the Church of Ireland is called to re-discover her role in society, or better, to regenerate her role in a different way in a changed society. The coming five years will be among the most critical: our catechetical programmes must be radically looked at. Our parishes must be renewed and become real focal points for the religious formation of young and old while more lay people must be formed to be actively involved in the Catechesis”.To what extent is the youth involved in the preparation of the Eucharistic Congress? “Our greatest concern is the rift which is growing between the Church and young people. Because of our schools and our traditions we have the most catechized yet least evangelised young people in Europe. We have bright, intelligent, generous and idealistic young people. However from a relatively early age they drift away from any regular contact with the Church and especially from Sunday Mass; it is hardly possible to remain truly a Christian if one has no contact over years with the Eucharist. This is why the Eucharistic Congress can offer an important contribution in the path of renewal”.It will be an international Congress. Is something in particular expected of the sister Churches in Europe?“As I said the Church in Ireland is experiencing a difficult situation and it would be beautiful to have a gesture of solidarity and support from all European Churches: certainly coming here to attend the Congress is to give a public support to the efforts of Irish bishops; I have also launched an idea: it would be beautiful if a Eucharistic gesture were carried out in various Countries of the Continent simultaneously with the event in Dublin”.